Digital Marketing Trends 2019: Your Ultimate Guide

Wondering which marketing trends to follow this year?

Digital marketing trends shift rapidly. If your business isn’t current with popular trends, customers will take notice. If you aren’t up to speed, your competitors may absorb your customers. Here’s an example:

Did you know that of web searches made in 2018, 52% were mobile queries? That means over half the searches last year were made on people’s smartphones or digital tablets. If you look back to 2013, only 16.2% of searches were made on mobile devices.

That’s a growth of 35% in only 5 years. If you still haven’t updated your website to a newer, responsive version, you’re hemorrhaging potential customers. And that’s just one example.

When you’re ready to learn what trends may affect your bottom line this year, strap in and hold on tight. Here come our insights for marketing trends 2019.

Artificial Intelligence

No, we’re not talking Sarah Conner, Terminator-style AIs that are ready to take over the world. Not yet anyway.

You can think of the present state of AIs as blocks of computers. They can sort and analyze colossal amounts of information in picoseconds. The more these computers sift through data, the better they understand patterns and behaviors.

If you’re asking yourself how this is relevant to you, let’s take a look. You can now use AIs for things like scouring your databases to provide new insights for your team.

For instance, you could scan social media conversations. That would give you real-time feedback about your prospects or competitors, so you can improve strategy.

Or, if you want to profile your buyers, AIs can do the following:

Customer segmentation

Click tracking

Retargeting

Push notifications

Etc.

AIs can work in a variety of capacities for Digital Marketing in Small Businesses. Once you determine your goals and channels, you can leverage the power of AIs to dramatically speed up your business’s efficiency.

Chatbots

Even if you don’t know the name, you’d recognize one if you saw it. Chatbots have become ubiquitous for online businesses. They pop up in the bottom corner of your screen on seemingly every other website.

They look like little boxes for instant messages. That is the purpose for which they were originally intended. Customers could ask questions about a product or service without needing to pick up a phone.

It saved customers and businesses a massive amount of time. Well, guess what? Now chatbots are run by AIs. That’s why the chatbot is arguably the biggest trend in online marketing today.

We know what you’re thinking, but those little silicon brains actually do a good job. Most business owners would say the AIs do a great job because they work for free.

Here are some of the ways in which chatbots excel.

Productivity: They can quickly access information that may not be otherwise unattainable online.

Entertainment: They can reply in funny ways or with humorous tips.

Relational and Social Factors: Chatbots can also hold regular conversations. That means fueling social experiences. They can give visitors a chance to complain without the fear of being judged. Some are even used by schools to improve conversational skills.

Curiosity: The little buggers are still new, so the novelty hasn’t worn off yet. Visitors may want to explore their abilities and try something new.

Yes, many chatbots still have real people replying to your messages. But sometimes humans only jump on the line when the AI can’t find the solution.

Stop and think for a moment. Does your business offer online help? Then, an AI chatbot could fill in for your customer service representative.

That means less money for payroll and more money in your pocket.

Smart Audio and Speakers

Yes, we’re talking about Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod. These are the big names in smart speakers this year. And their run by powerful AIs, namely Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri, respectively.

These AIs can now be found in seemingly everything electronic:

Clocks

Wristwatches

Laptops

Tablets

Smartphones

Earbuds

Refrigerators

Etc.

They’re a part of the movement toward the “Internet of Things” or IoT. The concept is to integrate everything digital to improve people’s lives. We’re not there yet, but the rise of smart audio and smart speakers are a sign we’re moving in that direction.

A user of this device can simply say, “Alexa, where’s the nearest coffee shop?” In her artificial voice, Alexa will reply with a list of the nearest establishments.

What’s worth noting is the difference in phrasing between voice searches and typed searches. If the above user had typed that query, it may have looked something like this: coffee shops nearby.

To us, those differences seem inconsequential. To a search engine, however, minor variations in word choice and spelling have great impact. It’s one of the reasons why mastering SEO is so important.

Some business owners don’t optimize their videos, articles, and websites for search engines. They then wonder why their amazing digital material doesn’t land on the first page of Google’s search engine results page.

There’s a simple answer. Those owners didn’t present the material in a form which search engines can understand.

Each year, businesses need to learn more about SEO, website design, and internet technology. Because technology is always changing. If those business stop hunting for the next big change, they’re left behind.

What to Do with Marketing Trends 2019

Ok, so how do you convert this into something useful? Take the information you learned in this marketing trends 2019 article. Now, look for places it intersects with your digital presence.

Do you use SEO? Then smart audio will affect you. Incorporate it into your SEO strategy.

Now investigate chatbots and AIs. Where do they fit? Think strategically. How can you use them to improve your bottom line?